Vehicle door latch



Feb. 14, 1939. P. R. SMITH 2,147,353

VEHICLE DOOR LATCH Filed May 24, 1957 RRSWM fi INVENTOR 9 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 14, 1939 UNHTED STATES ATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to motor vehicle door latches, and its general object is to provide a latch that includes dual bolt means connected for simultaneous operation, in a manner to allow the door to readily close without slamming and when in closed position, holds the door against casual opening or displacement as well as against undue vibration, thereby preventing rattling thereof.

A further object is to provide a door latch that includes a latching bolt having a beveled face which allows for free movement of the bolt within its keeper and draws the door closed in tight association with its frame when in closed position.

Another object is to provide a door latch that can be used with all types of vehicle doors, and is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and extremely eflicient in operation, use and service.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and specifically pointed out in the appended claim.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:-

Figure l is a fragmentary view illustrating my latch applied to a vehicle door with the latter closed and parts in section.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken approximately on line 2- 2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a sectional viewtaken approximately on line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the letter A indicates a fragmentary portion of a vehicle body, B the door frame and C the door which is of the usual hollow type to include a chamber for the latch mechanism and forthe glass when the latter is in lowered position.

The latch which forms the subject matter of the present invention includes a substantially L-shaped bell crank lever provided with a relatively short upright arm I, and a normally horizontally disposed long arm 2, the bell crank 1ever being pivotally mounted at the juncture of the arms, as at 3 and the arms are provided with a brace member 4 that bridges the same, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

Pivotally secured to the long arm 2 midway its ends and depending therefrom is a bolt lever 5 that is guided in bearing brackets 6 and the lower end of the bolt lever 5 is beveled as at l for cooperation with the inclined outer surface 8 of a keeper 9 which is secured within the sill portion of the frame, the keeper being of the socket type for slidably receiving the beveled end of the bolt member, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3.

slidably mounted adjacent the upper end of the chamber of the door and guided by bearing brackets IE! is a horizontally disposed bolt lever l I which has secured to the inner end thereof and extending laterally therefrom a headed pin I2 that is mounted for slidable movement in a slot l3 extending longitudinally of the upper end of the arm I, and engaging with the inner end of the bolt lever H is a coil spring M which normally urges and holds the bolt levers in their keepers, the keeper for the bolt lever H being indicated by the reference numeral I 5 and is mounted in the side portion of the frame, as best shown in Figure 1.

The bolt lever l I is not only beveled as at I6 to allow the beveled end thereof to slide across the keeper for disposal within the latter, but is likewise beveled as at H at a slight inclination toward its outer end so as to draw the door closed in tight association with respect to its frame, therefore when the door is closed, it will be held against undue vibration, thereby preventing rattling thereof.

The free end of the long arm 2 has pivotally connected thereto one end of a link I8 that rises therefrom, and the upper end of the link I8 is pivotally connected to a short link 20 that is fixed to the spindle of the handle 2|, the spindle being mounted in the usual manner, and by that construction, it will be obvious that downward movement of the handle M will result in the bolt levers being disposed out of the keepers, through the instrumentality of rocking movement of the bell crank lever, thereby allowing the door to be opened.

Any suitable locking means may be employed for holding the latch against movement by the handle 2|, and the locking means may be in the form of a spring pressed lever engageable in a notch in the bolt lever II.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, provided that such changes fall within the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:-

In a motor vehicle door latch, including keepers mounted in the frame of the door, dual bolts slidably mounted in the door at right angles to each other and having beveled ends receivable in the keepers, and means for actuating the bolts in unison and comprising a bell crank lever having a short arm and a long arm disposed at right angles to each other, said long arm being of a length substantially co-extensive with the width of the door and the short arm half the length of the long arm, said bell crank lever being rockably connected to the door adjacent to the lower end of the hinged side thereof and at the juncture of the arms with each other for the disposal of the short and long arms respectively in vertical and horizontal positions, brace means for the bell crank lever and secured to and bridging the arms adjacent to the inner ends thereof, the long arm having one of said bolts pivotally connected thereto midway its ends and depending therefrom, said short arm having a slot extending longitudinally thereof at its upper end, a headed pin on the inner end of the other bolt and mounted in the slot for connecting the latter bolt to the short arm, a coil spring engaging the hinged side of the door and the inner end of the latter bolt respectively for urging and holding both of said bolts in the keepers, and means for manually moving the bolts out of said keepers and including a link pivoted to and rising from the outer end of the long arm, a handle provided with a shank movably mounted in the door and a link having one end fixed to the shank and its opposite end pivoted to the upper end of the first link.

PERCY R. SIWITH. o 

